Six-time French champions Bordeaux will compete in the sixth tier of French football this season after being cleared to participate in the top regional division following financial difficulties.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine league confirmed that the club had been unanimously approved to play in Regional 1 after its recovery budget received a positive assessment from the league’s oversight commission.
Bordeaux were sanctioned during the summer after failing to demonstrate that they had the approximately 10 million euros required to cover financial obligations for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years, including outstanding debt payments.
The development marks another difficult chapter for one of France’s historically successful clubs, which has produced several prominent players, including Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, both members of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad.
The club was sold last month for a symbolic one euro to US-based investment group Park Bench, which agreed to assume its remaining debt.
Dominique Delport, the new president appointed by the investors, said the club could now begin rebuilding following the approval.
Bordeaux’s new owners are expected to appear before a commercial court on October 20 to ratify a revised continuation plan extending over 12 years.
Under the arrangement, the club’s debt will be reduced by half, from 26 million euros to 13 million euros.
The squad will largely comprise amateur players, although Bordeaux will be permitted to register five players on professional contracts.
Former Ligue 1 striker Baptiste Guillaume is among those expected to feature.
Bordeaux’s decline follows a series of financial and administrative setbacks.
The club was relegated to Ligue 2 in 2022 before entering judicial restructuring in 2024, a process that resulted in the loss of its professional status and its highly regarded academy.
Despite the setback, the latest approval offers the club an opportunity to stabilise its finances and rebuild its standing in French football.
